NewsDavid Caissie to stand trial in death of Carol KingGlobal NewsSASKATOON- It was a murder that stunned rural residents living in Herschel, Sask., and had people locking their doors. Now, nearly six years after the death of Carol King, judge has ruled that there is enough evidence for Joseph "David" Caissie to stand trial for the crime. After eight days of arguments over the admissibility of certain statements presented by the Crown, Caissie, in front of three supporters learned his fate on Friday. He will head to trial for both first-degree murder in connection to his ex-girlfriend's death and offering an indignity to human remains. As the judge delivered his decision, Caissie looked up in the prisoners' box and started to cry. "There was a live issue that if we had been successful, could have marked the end of this proceeding," Caissie's lawyer Ron Piche said. "Unfortunately the judge didn't see it our way, it doesn't mean the arguments at an end- it's the same argument that will advance at trial." Caissie, who will remain in custody, whispered "I'm so sorry" to his family and friends before being led away. He has been locked up since July 19, 2016 after being arrested without incident by police. On Aug. 6, 2011, King went missing without a trace and her disappearance was reported to Rosetown RCMP. Officers went to her Herschel area home at the time but were unable to find any signs of King or her vehicle. On Aug. 10, King's vehicle was recovered by RCMP and a little over three weeks later, her remains were discovered in a wooded area approxiamately six kilometres away. "The case came down to alleged confessions by Mr. Caissie, alleged admissions so entire prelim was really aimed at that," Mr. Piche said. According to Piche, the trial is anticipated to take about six weeks and approximately 45 witnesses will testify. Caissie is opting to be tried by judge and jury. "What is the evidence placed before the jury will be the bulk of the case here."Meaghan Craighttp://globalnews.ca/news/3465975/david-caissie-trial-first-degree-murder-homicide-carol-king-herschel/​Noshawd Ali found not guilty of sexual assaultStar PhoenixDecember 18, 2015SASKATOON- On Friday, Ali was found not guilty of sexual assault in relation to the alleged incidents in 2005. “By acquitting the accused, I'm not saying I do not believe the incidents complained of may have happened or probably happened, only that due to the inconsistencies... (they) have made a reasonable doubt," Justice Dan Konkin said in his oral decision delivered in Saskatoon Court of Queen's Bench. Ali testified in his own defence at trial and denied the allegations. The 56-year-old Saskatoon businessman who has organized major events in the city, including the Fireworks Festival, WakeRide and WinterShines, said he was “relieved" but not surprised at the verdict. “I think my work in the community stands for itself," he said outside court. “I don't want (this case) to be the issue that determines whether Shad Ali is a person that should stand before anyone and hold his head high. I believe I've always held myself to a good standard, in whatever community I've lived in." The complainant, now 21 years old, testified at the trial in October that on two occasions in 2005, Ali touched her sexually. Any information that would identify the complainant, now 21 years old, testified at the trial in October that on two occasions in 2005, Ali touched her sexually. Any information that would identify the complainant is subject to a publication ban. At trial, Ali's lawyer, Ron Piche, pointed to inconsistencies between the complainant's testimony, her police statement in 2013 and other evidence that he said raised enough doubt that his client must be acquitted. “This has been a long and very stressful experience for my client," Piche said outside court. “He had all the faith in the world that the right result would be obtained and that's what we got today. Having said that it's somewhat bittersweet in the sense that here's a man of exceptional reputation, who's done a lot for his community... “At the end of the day he's obtained his acquittal, he's been found guilty. However, now comes the more difficult part for him - he has to repair the reputation that he's lost on this."hspray@postmedia.cahttp://thestarphoenix.com/news/crime/nowshad-ali-found-not-guilty-of-sexual-assault-of-young-girl

Police can't search based on pot smell alone, Sask. court rules

CBC News

A Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruling that police can't search a vehicle just because they smell burned marijuana will change how police conduct themselves, a lawyer

says. In December, lawyer Ron Piche successfully defended a La Loche man who was arrested after police found marijuana. He was charged with possession of marijuana after

police pulled over his truck and the officer smelled pot. After a search, police found eight grams of marijuana and a list of names. They also charged him with possession for

the purpose of trafficking. However, he beat the charge when a provincial court judge ruled the arrest and search was unreasonable. In a 35-page decision released on Dec. 14,

the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal agreed and upheld the acquittal. The court said just because an officer can smell burned marijuana, it doesn't mean a suspect smoked the

drug just before and it doesn't mean a suspect is likely to be carrying marijuana.

"This case really takes a lot of those powers away from police," Piche said. "The smell of marijuana can't constitute the grounds to arrest someone because marijuana smell

means that it's burned. It's gone. It's in the atmosphere. It no longer exists." Piche believes the ruling will result in a significant change for law enforcement in Saskatchewan.

However, a veteran Saskatoon drug investigator has a different view of the high court ruling. "It won't make my job any more difficult at all," said Sgt. Dean Hoover. Hoover

says he may not be able to arrest people if he smells pot, but it doesn't stop him from investigating" I just have to do a little bit more of an investigation," Hoover said. "I just

can't simply detain them and search the vehicle right away. I've got to use my head like any police officer has to do and conduct an investigation." Saskatchewan's police

commission says it wants to review the ruling before formally changing how officers proceed.

Pauchay wants to go for alcohol rehab: lawyerLori Coolican, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, January 16, 2009National PostMELFORT -- With his feet in shackles and one arm raised to conceal a gash on his face, Christopher Pauchay avoided eye contact with a crowd of spectators as he appeared before a judge in Melfort today, accused of violating his bail conditions by drinking.The 25-year-old father from the Yellow Quill First Nation, who is awaiting a sentencing circle for criminal negligence causing the freezing deaths of his two daughters last winter, was released from the prisoner's box so he could sit next to his lawyer.The evidence and arguments presented during Pauchay's bail hearing is banned from publication. Judge Barry Morgan adjourned the matter until Jan. 23 in Tisdale, when he is expected to decide whether to release Pauchay again pending sentencing.Greenwater RCMP arrested Pauchay Jan. 8 - the day after Morgan agreed to grant his request for a sentencing circle - at a drinking establishment in a town near the reserve. He now faces charges of violating his release conditions by drinking in two separate incidents on Dec. 14 and Jan. 8.Outside court, Pauchay's defence lawyer Ron Piche told reporters a brief medical exam by a doctor is the "last piece of the puzzle" necessary for Pauchay to secure a month-long stay at Saskatoon's Calder Centre for alcohol rehabilitation.Piche said it's the defence's position that the intensive Calder program could be followed up with stricter bail conditions that would still allow Pauchay to live at home while awaiting his sentencing circle."The judge hasn't foreclosed that option. He wants to have all the information before him before he makes a decision. I think we're fortunate in that we have a very open-minded judge, a judge who doesn't just draw conclusions without evidence," Piche said.He feels Pauchay deserves the opportunity "because the reality is . . . the struggles, the affliction that he has with alcohol demands some treatment," he told reporters.Plans to get Pauchay into professional treatment have been in the works for a long time, Piche said, "(but) this matter was in court and there were all sorts of things going on, there was even a trial scheduuled last fall, so it didn't lend itself to that kind of very difficult decision that easily."Since his daughters' deaths, "he has taken other forms of treatment, in the sense that he's spoken with his elders and some of his support network, and he's tried other means, other than the 30-day stay (at Calder)," Piche said.No date has been set for Pauchay's sentencing circle.Justice Minister Don Morgan said Wednesday there has been no formal policy by the provincial government to discourage the use of aboriginal sentencing circles and he has asked officials to look into the reasons behind the sharp decline in their use since the late 1990s. Unofficial numbers released by the Ministry of Justice last week showed that the use of the "restorative justice" measure had gone down from a high of 39 times in 1997 to one sentencing circle in 2007 and five in 2008."Whether it's a shift from the courts or the prosecutorial practice at an informal level, I don't know yet," Morgan said outside a meeting of the Saskatchewan Party cabinet at the legislature.Morgan said once he has an explanation for the decline he will decide whether further action on his part is warranted.First used in Canada in the early 1990s, the circles traditionally bring together offenders, their family members, friends, community members and sometimes victims to come up with remedies.Former deputy minister of justice John Whyte said last week that sentencing circles are labour-intensive and present logistical challenges for judges, lawyers and the First Nations involved, but are worthwhile and need the support of the government.

Mistrial declared over Mountie's undisclosed history CBC News

A Saskatoon judge has declared a mistrial in a drunk-driving case where the arresting officer had a history that was not disclosed. The case dates back to April when Darren Usselman was charged with having a blood-alcohol level over .08 while operating his truck. The provincial court case went to trial in June. RCMP officer Sgt. Warren Gherasim, who did the roadside test, was the Crown's main witness. Usselman was found guilty, but then defence lawyer Ron Piche stumbled across Gherasim's background. "It was learned that the sole witness, the main investigating officer, was himself the subject of disciplinary proceedings, professional standards and the like, in connection with an allegation of having consumed alcohol and driven his vehicle and being in an accident," Piche said. Gherasim had been sanctioned in 2006 for disgraceful conduct after rolling his vehicle while off-duty. He admitted at an internal hearing that he had been drinking, but he was never charged. He was suspended without pay for eight days. A Supreme Court ruling in 2009 said that police must tell the Crown about any misconduct records which may have a bearing on a case. Under disclosure rules, the Crown would then be required to disclose this information to the defence. Before Usselman could be sentenced, Judge Marilyn Gray declared a mistrial. In her written decision she said, "Here the officer had been disciplined for the very conduct of which Mr. Usselman had been accused." Piche said it would've come up in cross examination, had he known. "It may have influenced the result of the case, obviously, because credibility is always an issue, not only with civilians but police witnesses as well," he said. No date has been set for the new trial.

The lawyer for an off-duty RCMP officer charged with drunk driving says his client's right to privacy was violated when he was arrested in his garage without a warrant.Tyson Robert Drabinasty, 32, was charged last year after spending the evening allegedly drinking at his next-door neighbour's July long-weekend barbecue. His trial began Monday in North Battleford provincial court.Two other neighbours who weren't at the party testified they saw Drabinasty drive away at about 12: 30 a.m. on July 3, 2011, in his Mustang after arguing with his common-law wife as she stood at the driver's side window while the car idled in the middle of the street. When he sped away, she fell to the ground.An off-duty paramedic happened to drive by a few minutes later and saw a woman lying in the street. After helping the woman the paramedic called police. It's unclear whether Drabinasty's wife was struck by the car, but when police issued a news release following the incident, they said the investigation arose following a collision between a car and a pedestrian on a North Battleford street.Before police arrived, Drabinasty returned to his house on foot.RCMP members interviewed witnesses from the party who said they had seen Drabinasty drink beer and shots of liquor during the evening, then pull out of his driveway in the Mustang. Those witnesses testified at the trial Monday, but none was sure about how much alcohol Drabinasty had consumed.The RCMP officers arrested Drabinasty inside his garage after they saw him go into it.That arrest, however - and events later at the RCMP detachment involving Drabinasty's attempts to contact a lawyer - violated Drabinasty's charter rights, defence lawyer Ron Piche said in an interview."In this case, what we have is officers who do not even appear to have thought for half a second that they required a warrant," Piche said, referring to the right to privacy and the need for police to have a warrant to enter a home and arrest someone.The two RCMP members at the scene, Const. Keith Hill and Const. Steven Bell, testified Monday during a voir dire - a trial within a trial held to determine whether all or any of the evidence they collected could be admitted at the main trial. After they testified, the trial was adjourned for the Crown and defence to submit written arguments on the charter issues.A key piece of evidence is the blood-alcohol readings collected at the RCMP detachment following Drabinasty's arrest. Bell testified Drabinasty blew into a screening device twice and his blood-alcohol content was measured both times at 110 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 mg per 100 ml, commonly referred to as .08.Following those readings, Hill charged Drabinasty with driving with a blood-alcohol content over .08 and impaired driving. If the blood-alcohol readings are ruled inadmissible due to the charter violation, the Crown would have no evidence to prove the .08 charge and would have to rely on the civilian witnesses to try and prove impaired driving, Piche said.In August 2011, the charges against Drabinasty were amended at the direction of the Crown to add an additional charge of dangerous driving. Piche said because Drabinasty didn't know about that charge when he was arrested, his right to be informed of the reasons for his detention was violated, a second violation of his rights.The third charter argument raised by Piche was that Drabinasty's right to counsel was violated after he couldn't get ahold of his preferred lawyer and was pressured to hurry up and speak to a lawyer because of the time elapsing between the alleged offence and the blood-alcohol testing. There is a two-hour window during which police can get a "certificate" admissible in court with blood-alcohol readings. If more than two hours elapses, proving the .08 charge becomes more difficult in court.The written arguments on the charter issues are due from Piche and Crown prosecutor Bryce Pashovitz in June, after which Judge Dolores Ebert will issue a ruling on those. That ruling will affect how the Crown and defence decide to proceed.hspray@thestarphoenix.com

Assault Charge Against Officer WithdrawnSaskatoon Starphoenix

A Saskatoon police sergeant who admitted punching a referee in the face during a hockey game has avoided a criminal record by successfully completing mediation.Sgt. Joseph William Jorgenson, a 17-year member of the Saskatoon Police Service, will not face disciplinary action because the incident occurred while he was off-duty and the matter was diverted to the mediation process from the criminal courts, police spokesperson Alyson Edwards said.A common assault charge against Jorgenson was withdrawn Monday during a brief court hearing.Eric Olauson, referee-in-chief of the Adult Safe Hockey League called the incident "intolerable.""In 26 years of officiating, it's the first I've ever seen (of) an incident to this degree against an official. This was an extreme incident and very, very rare," Olauson said.Contrary to previous news reports that the referee involved was not hurt in the on-ice attack, Olauson said the man, who is "between 45 and 55" years of age, received facial and neck injuries that left him unable to officiate games for two weeks, though he would normally have worked about six games per week, Olauson said.The referee required physiotherapy and other medical attention, Olauson said.Jorgenson has been permanently suspended from the league. The incident occurred March 22, 2011, at Jemini Ice Sports.According to the referee's report to Olauson after the game, an altercation erupted between two players after a slashing penalty had been called. One of them then continued arguing with the referee and punched the official, he said. A match penalty was called and the league was notified, resulting in Jorgenson being banned from the league for life, he said."It's a good thing. Every action that we take has a consequence. - There's no place for this in hockey," Olauson said."Hockey is a violent sport played within rules and officials are paid to enforce the rules. This incident fell way beyond the rules for the Adult Safe Hockey League."Penalties incurred for offences against referees are rare, Olauson said. There were five in the past season in the ASHL, which is about average. Such penalties usually result from things like a player engaged in a fight with another player shoving the referee out of the way, he said.The referee in this case agreed to the mediation process and is satisfied with the outcome, Olauson said.Defence lawyer Ron Piche said Jorgenson "will be the first to admit he's a very active athlete. He works hard and he plays hard."All parties, including the complainant, thought it would be more appropriate and more productive to sit down together and resolve this by mediation," which is an effective way to deal with the matter while not taxing the court's resources, Piche said."The mediator deserves a lot of credit for having stick-handled this thing through."Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Assault+charge+against+officer+withdrawn/6803615/story.html#ixzz1zgtZdiWE

Accused Officer in Drinking Case Goes to TrialCBC News

A Saskatoon police officer accused of impaired driving had his day in court, Friday. Const. Roy Rodgers, a 13-year veteran of the force, was off-duty at the time of the incident, which took place early in the morning of May 24, 2009. According to police, they received a call about a man and a woman arguing inside a vehicle at the intersection of Idylwyld Drive and 22nd Street. Officers went to the scene, found Rodgers and eventually laid the charges. During the trial on Friday, the court heard arguments from Rodgers' lawyer that the arresting officers took too long to administer a breathalyser test. Court was told that 47 minutes passed before the test was done, because the constables who responded to the call were waiting for senior officers to arrive. Defence lawyer Ron Piche said the delay was inappropriate. "Some 47 minutes went by from the time where the officer should have read a roadside demand on my client until the time that the test was administered," Piche said after court. "The legislation is very clear on this. That these tests have to be performed forthwith. Which has been interpreted to mean, immediately." The court was told that waiting for senior officers to arrive, in this situation, was the standard Saskatoon police policy. But Piche questioned that. "I can't think of one good reason in any of these investigations where you'd have to kick it up to one of the superior officers to get on scene to investigate this," he said. "As I told the judge, it's something that the public would start scratching their collective heads on and say, why not just treat this as a regular investigation." The Crown prosecutor in the case told the judge that the timing of the breath test should not derail the case. The judge who heard the case did not make a decision right away. It is expected on Sept. 10.

Family Reacts to La Ronge Fire RulingpaNow

Relatives of the family killed in the Lakeview Apartments fire in La Ronge are furious over the sentence handed down to Blake Norman. Norman, 21, was charged with manslaughter in relation to a fire that left three dead in 2009, but pleaded down to criminal negligence causing death, and was given a sentence of time served. On May 26, 2009, while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, Norman set fire to the underside of a box spring of a mattress in the hallway of the apartment building. Crown prosecutor Robert Lane said in court that the only people who witnessed what happened were Norman and his friends who were with him, and they said they thought the fire had been put out before they left. The fire spread, however, and 20-year-old Justin Charles, 19-year-old Marsha McKenzie, and 3-month-old Jeremy Charles died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. “We lost a big part of our family. A whole section of our family was wiped out, because he (Norman) wanted to do something stupid,” said Kelly Anderson, the owner of the Lakeview Apartments and uncle to Justin. A large number of family members attended the court proceedings, and picketed outside the Court of Queen’s Bench directly after the sentence was handed down, with signs that displayed their anger over what they felt was a “lenient sentence”. “This sentence is just appalling, it’s too lenient, and he should be locked up,” said Anderson. “Plea bargains do not work. They ignore victims’ rights, and the justice sought by the victims and the public at large.” Several family members chose to read victim impact statements during court. “I couldn’t stop crying. I cried all day. I couldn’t sleep,” read one member. “I had hoped there would be a wedding… I have to rely on sleeping pills to deal with this loss,” said another. “I need to have closure. I need justice to be served,” read yet another. Many members of the family left the room when Norman was about to address the court. “I would like to apologize to everyone for what happened and the actions I didn’t take to prevent it from happening,” he said. Many of the family members weren’t there to hear it however. “We don’t believe Mr. Norman is sincere, by any means,” said Anderson when asked why they left the courtroom. “I mean, he took the plea bargain simply to save himself some time, figuring he was going to go away for longer.” Defence lawyer Ron Piche said outside of court that he understood how emotions can run high during a case like this. He added that Norman is sorry for what he had done. “He has a future, and he does feel remorse, and hopefully his actions in the future will show that he wants to atone for what happened,” said Piche. Piche said Norman is looking forward to moving on with his life. “He’s very relieved, he’s just anxious to get back home with his family, sleep in his own bed, have a home-cooked meal,” said Piche. Norman has no criminal record, and had spent 19 months in remand awaiting court proceedings. The incident occurred before the two-for-one credit for time served was eliminated by the federal government, so he was given credit for serving the equivalent of three years and two months. He was released after the court proceedings. Norman will also have two years of probation, during which he has to keep a distance of 20 kilometers from La Ronge and the surrounding reserves. “Frankly, for Blake’s own safety, we thought it was a reasonable clause,” said Piche, who said members of Norman’s family had received questionable e-mails that caused some concern. “Hopefully, with time, things will cool down a little bit.”